St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-09-07
THAT THEATER HORROR.
Probability That 40 Persons Lost Their
Lives in the Exeter
Disaster.
The British Government Stolidly Re-
fuses to Inaugurate Needed ~ O.
Investigation. IL"
The Afghan Questionable General
Budget Of Foreign esei
Intelligence.
By Cable to the Globe.

LONDON, Sept. 6. The destruction of
the Theatre Royal at Exeter was a lit
eral repetition of the Brooklyn theater,
horror, the scenes attending the burn
ing of the Opera COmique in Paris, the
terrible Ring theater disaster in Vienna
and long list of similar catastrophes
that human foresight and ingenuity and
a decent regard for the safety of life
might have rendered impossible, or at
least remotely probable. 1t was claimed
for the theater that it possessed all the
latest improvements and accessories for
the presentation of firSt-class enter
tainments, and its proprietors and man.
ayers were able to boast that>>its stage
would amply accommodate the hun
dreds of actors necessary to the produc-
ton of a spectacular play; yet when
through carelesSness or the imperfection
of the gas and scenic arrangements the
building took fire, the occupants of the
gallery were compelled to seek escape
by means of a single exit, comprising a
stairway not sufficiently wide for three
persons to walk abreast. There could
be only one result of an attempt by
panic stricken crowd to force itself
through this channel to the open air,
and that was reached Immediately. 1t
ought not to be difficult to locate
THE CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY
for failure to provide adequate means
of exit from the place, but already the
blame is being shifted from the Shout
ders of one to another, and it would not
be surprising if all the guilty persons
should ultimately succeed in evading
the consequences of their neglect. Henry
Matthews, the home secretary, was in
terrogated in the house of commons
this evening concerning the steps the
government would take to eXhauStiVely
investigate the matter, fix the RESPONSE
bility and punish the offenders, but he
stated in reply to his interrogation that
the home Office had no authority to pro-
coed with an inquiry in advance of the
action of the local officers, nor was it
within the province of the home de-
partmept to have inspected and sur
veyed the theater. This latter duty
should have been performed by the di-
rectiOn of the local magistrates and they
are responsible for having licensed the
theater in its unsafe condition as re-
CARDS providing sufficient means of exit
in event of fire or panic. Mr.. Mat
thews admitted that additional legisla-
ton was necessary to insure a greater
degree of safety in public halls and the
aters and it is likely that bill will
be introduced during the present ses-
sion to that end. The enormity of the
calamity has had an appalling effect
upon the public and the occurrence
SUPERSEDES ALL OTHERS
as theme of conversation. The Lon
don theaters have suffered a marked de-
crease of receipts tonight, and it will
be some time before the more timid
theater- goerS will venture to resume
their habit of visiting crowded play
houses. None of the blackened and
charred cOrpSeS that are still lying side
by side in the store near the ruins of
he theater at Exeter have yet been iden-
titled, and it is likely that nearly all of
them will be buried as strangers, posi-
bly, by persons who knew them init
mately in life but who are unable to
distinguish Semblance of their former
friends in the revolving trunks and frag-
ments of flesh that escaped the fury of
the flames.
1t is said that the upsetting of ticket
box in the gallery exit was the cause of
the blockade, causing the people in
front to stop, while those in their rear
pressed forward and
CHOKED THE PASSAGE.
The human ashes in that part of the
Of nearly fifty ladies. A fund for the he
relief of the sufferers by the fire has
been started both here and in Exeter.
The queen, Wilson Barrett and
others have sent letters of coincidence.
The room in which the cOroner'S in
quest is being held at Exeter was
crowded from the beginning with mourn
ing relatives OF persons who lost their
lives. The coroner has, for sanitary
reasons, ordered the immediate burial of
the bodies of the victims.
FURTHER DETAILS.
LONDON, Sept. 6.-Evening-It has
been ascertained that there were 200
persons occupying seats in the gallery,
and of these over 40 lost their lives.
The search for bodies still goes on. 1t
is very probable that the total number
of bodies will never be ascertained, Ow-
ing to the fact that many of
the bodies were completely cal
cined. The stalls of a stable belong
ing to hotel adjacent to the theater are
to identify. Most of the killed were
adults and chiefly men. But few child
rem persisted. The municipal authori-
ties held special meeting to-day and
arranged for the interment of all I'M
identified bodies. In nearly every case
the clothing had been torn off the vic
tins. From many of the bodies
limbs were missing, and the remains
showed evidence that they had been
wrenched off. Several whole families.
numbering from two to five persons,
lost their lives. The construction of
the gallery staircase accounts for the
great loss of life among the gallery
people. Half way down the fight
there was sharp angle. The
first persons who left the gallery got
past this safely, but several of those
who followed were thrown down and
damned into the angle and were unable
to eXtricate themselves, owing to
the pressure from behind. The
staircase at this point was
thus effectually blocked and
there was no other means of escape. A
scene shifter says the fire originated
among some gauze which in some way
became ignited. The flames spread TO
the scenery, of which the stage was
unusually full owing to the preparations
in progress for the production of pam
tomime. The audience numbered 800
persons.
The Afghan Question.
ST. PETERSBURG, Sept. 6.-The fol-
lowing Semi-official statement is made